The timing!
Yeah!
The timing! Anna's attack from behind came at exactly the right moment!
At that moment, Ikeda Ichiro's body had stiffened slightly from fear and his earlier lack of fighting spirit because of Anna's attack.
Although he only needed a single hand seal to release the Wind Release seal on his shoulder, at that moment, he was in precisely the state where he could not form even one seal.
Simple!
It was that simple!
Looking at the details, Ikeda Ichiro had already lost his will to fight at the time. Coupled with the instant his body stiffened, there was no way he could have used that Wind Release! It was simple! At that moment, Ikeda Ichiro truly had no way to use that Wind Release.
As he looked at Hada Ichiba ahead of him, who seemed to be smiling yet not smiling, the light in Hada Ryuhiko's eyes slowly dimmed. Yet a string of thoughts flashed through his mind.
He understood now, and he remembered. At the time, all his attention had been on Anna's perfectly timed kick. He had not paid attention to Ikeda Ichiro. Thinking back now, Ikeda Ichiro's posture at the time had completely lacked the conditions needed to activate Wind Release.
Because at that moment, though it had not been obvious, Ikeda Ichiro had been utterly intimidated by Anna's presence!
At the same time, he had clearly never expected Anna to possess such speed! Subjectively or objectively, there was no way that Wind Release could have been activated by Ikeda Ichiro.
"Then why did no one notice?"
However, although he had understood what Hada Ichiba meant, Hada Ryuhiko did not stop asking questions just because he had figured it out.
Because if that was the case, then a new question arose.
Even he had